ON ELECTION DAY

Voter Information

Voting Problems:

If you experience problems with the machines when voting or do not see an election listed for which you think you are eligible to vote, please notify the Commissioners BEFORE you cast your vote. If you have any questions rgarding Early Voting, please contact us by calling (985) 345-3717 in Hammond, or (985) 748-3215 in Amite.

Identification Card:

In order to save time and make your voting experience more enjoyable, please check your voter identificatioin card to make sure the information is correct on it. For your convenience, the location of these informational items are shown in RED on the sample Voter ID card.

Due to the federally required re-apportionment and re-districting done recently, it is quite likely that either your Precinct has changed, or your Polling Place Location has changed, or Both. In order to learn what your precinct number and polling place will be for elections, you will need to look on your new voter I.D. card. If your information is not correct, call the Registrar’s Office

Louisiana ID:

Remember when you go to the polls to cast your vote in an election, be sure to take a driver’s license, a Louisiana Special ID, or some other generally recognized picture ID. If you do not have a picture ID, our office has furnished identification affidavits to be completed at each precinct. Should any problems or questions arise, for example your name is not in the precinct register and you think it should be, ask the Commissioner(s) to call the principal office of the Registrar of Voters. The Commissioners will have the phone number in their precinct binder

Voting Rights:

Your voting rights are VERY IMPORTANT to us. Your exercise of them is CRITICAL to everyone. For most people in our society, their vote is their only voice in the management of their government. Use it at each opportunity.Your participation in the electoral process is vital to our Towns, Parish, State, and Nation. Please ensure that your voter registration information is current and accurate. You should contact our office when you change addresses, wish to affiliate with a political party, change your party affiliation or other such matters which may affect your registration status. But there are deadlines established by law beyond which the changes cannot be made.

REGISTER TO VOTE

Who is eligible to vote?

To register to vote you must:

- be a U.S. citizen.- be 17 years old (16 years old at the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles), but must be 18 years old to vote.- not be under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony.- not be under a judgment of full interdiction for mental incompetence or partial interdiction with suspension of voting rights.- reside in the state and parish in which you seek to register.

How do I register?

Eligible individuals may apply for voter registration by completing a Louisiana Voter Registration Application form at any of Louisiana’s mandated sites, any Registrar of Voters office, or by mail. Louisiana statutes require individuals to be registered 30 days prior to an election to be eligible to vote in that particular election.

- Apply in person to register to vote at any registrar of voters office.- Apply online to register to vote or make changes to your registration.

If registering in person at a parish registrar of voters office, you are required to prove age, residency and identity. You must submit your current Louisiana driver's license, if you have one, or your birth certificate or other documentation which reasonably and sufficiently establishes your identity, age and residency.

If you have no picture ID, you may bring a utility bill, payroll check, or government document that includes your name and address.

If registering at a mandated site, no further proof of identification is required other than whatever proof is required for services received that you have applied for at the public agency.

Faxed voter registration forms are not accepted. The voter registration form should be addressed and mailed or hand-delivered to the appropriate registrar of voters in the parish in which you are registering. DO NOT mail or otherwise send voter registration forms to the Secretary of State Elections Division. Deadlines requiring receipt in the Registrar of Voters Office may be missed. You are to be registered 30 days prior to an election to be eligible to vote in that particular election.

Louisiana mails a verification mailing card to verify the address you have provided when registering by mail.

Registration Facts

Louisiana statutes require you to be registered 30 days prior to an election to be eligible to vote in that particular election.

No cost is associated with registering to vote. It is a right afforded to you as a United States citizen by the U.S. Constitution.

You must qualify to register with a residence address in the parish with a street or rural route address. Post office box addresses and mail center boxes do not qualify. We must know where you live so you are assigned to the proper voting precinct for Election Day.

Displaced voters: If you were involuntarily displaced to a new parish or state due to a gubernatorially declared emergency, but want to remain registered to vote at your pre-emergency address, you may remain registered there if you have not changed your registration address or filed a homestead exemption on a different residence. You should provide a mailing address, if different from your pre-emergency residence address, to your registrar of voters to remain an active voter.

If you have multiple addresses, you must register to vote using your homestead exemption address; however, if you do not claim homestead exemption and reside at more than one place in the state with an intention to reside there indefinitely, you may register only at one of the places at which you reside. There is an exception in the law, however, for a person who resides in a nursing home or in a veterans' home. They may register and vote at the address where the nursing home or veterans' home is located, even though they have a homestead exemption on their residence.

If you have changed residence inside your parish after registering to vote, you should notify the registrar of voters office in your parish of any changes to your registration or make changes online.

If you have changed residence outside your parish after registering to vote, you are no longer eligible to remain registered in that parish. You must register in your new parish.

Once you are registered in your parish, you will remain registered as an active voter. If you move and your residence address is not able to be verified through the U.S. Postal Service during the annual canvass or you do not return the address confirmation card, you will be placed on inactive status. You can activate your status by verifying your residence address online with a change of address or in person either on election day before voting or at the Registrar of Voters Office by completion of an address confirmation card. If you do not verify your address and do not vote in two federal general elections, you may be canceled. You may also be suspended or canceled if you lose your civil rights or register to vote in another state. Your registration cannot be canceled between primary and general elections unless the registration was fraudulently placed on the registration records or if you are canceled pursuant to the annual canvas conducted by the registrar. A person whose registration has been canceled is not permitted to vote until they submit a new registration to the registrar of voters.

A change of name can be made by producing, in the presence of the registrar of voters, an affidavit stating the name under which the person desires to be registered. A person who changes their name by virtue of a judgment of court shall file with the registrar of voters a certified copy of the judgment or affidavit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Voting By Mail/Fax

Who can vote by mail?

If you registered to vote by mail and you have not previously voted in the parish, you must vote in person the first time either during early voting, or on election day, unless an exception applies. Exceptions include:

- military or overseas citizens- persons in the Senior Citizen or Disability Program- students, who submit a copy of student ID or fee bill with the request- citizens who appear in the registrar of voters office before the election to verify identity- participants in the state's address confidentiality program

In Louisiana you must have a reason to be eligible to vote by mail, unless you are a military or overseas citizen. There are specific reasons to vote by mail.

How do I request an absentee ballot?

To electronically request absentee ballots by mail, click the Change Search tab above and log in By Voter. Or, you may print a Request for Absentee Ballot by Mail PDF form, complete, sign and return indicating the reason you are not able to vote in person, either during early voting or on election day. Return the form to the Tangipahoa Parish Registrar of Voters.

How do military service men/women and overseas citizens request an absentee ballot?

To electronically request absentee ballots by mail, fax or email for military and overseas voters, click the Change Search tab above and log in By Voter. Or, you may print a Request for Absentee Ballot for Military & Overseas Citizens only PDF form, complete, sign and return the form to the Tangipahoa Parish Registrar of Voters.

Early Voting

Where do I vote early and what are the hours for early voting?

You may vote early at Registrar of Voters Amite Office or Registrar of Voters Hammond Office from 8:30 am to 6 pm for each day of early voting. Please check the election calendar for early voting dates or contact our office.

What do I need to bring?

You will be asked for a picture identification card to vote at the polling place. This can include a Louisiana driver's license, a Louisiana Special ID card, or other generally recognized picture identification card with your name and signature. If you do not have a picture ID, you will be asked identifying questions by the election official and asked to sign an identification affidavit before voting.

Election day voting hours for Saturday elections are from 7 am to 8 pm Election day voting hours for Tuesday elections are from 6 am to 8 pm

What do I need to bring?

You will be asked for a picture identification card to vote at the polling place. This can include a Louisiana driver's license, a Louisiana Special ID card, or other generally recognized picture identification card with your name and signature. If you do not have a picture ID, you will be asked identifying questions by the poll worker and asked to sign an identification affidavit before voting.Provisional Voting

Provisional Voting

What is Provisional Voting?

Provisional voting provides a fail safe procedure for voting in federal elections when a person appears to vote and is not listed as an eligible voter. A provisional voter must certify in writing on the ballot that he is a registered voter in the parish and is eligible to vote in the election for the federal office before voting. For more information contact the Tangipahoa Parish Registrar of Voters office